By Richard Bammer

In response to a new state law that seeks to reduce health risks from concussions, all Vacaville Unified School District athletes, including cheer and drill squad members, will undergo what’s called “baseline testing” this fall before participating in tryouts or any sport activity.

Randy Henry, the district’s chief human resource officer, members of the district’s Athletic Advisory Council and Kaiser physician Jeff Gaborko on Thursday collaborated and presented a report to the governing board, the Student-Athlete Concussion Protocols Update.

Using a computer-aided slide presentation, Henry noted that the update was the end result of 18 months of talks among several stakeholders about testing for sports-related concussions, or impaired functioning of the brain as a result of a violent blow or impact to the head. Members included high school principals, athletic directors and, besides Gaborko, Col. Henry Lau, a physician from the David Grant Medical Center on Travis Air Force Base, and Sutter Health officials.

via VUSD high school sports leaders begin concussion management program.